


Morris Mouse And Henry Hedgehog

by TheBeardedOne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Children's Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27668264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeardedOne/pseuds/TheBeardedOne
Summary: The adventures of a cunning Mouse and a helpful Hedgehog.Cover and in-story pictures provided byDimocky Art.





	1. A Garden Meeting

Morris Mouse was a very intrepid mouse. While the other mice would stick to the hedges and bushes, Morris would venture out to the flower beds and vegetable patches in search of food.

This wasn't to say that he was a foolhardy mouse, though.

Oh no. He knew very well that there were many dangers for the average House Mouse. Owls, Eagles, Foxes, the nasty cat that lived in the house at the bottom of the garden… the list went on and on.

But while he was careful, he wasn't scared and so he soon found the nicest things to eat. While other mice nibbled at tough roots and stems, Morris knew how tasty the tender flowers were. Other mice shivered in fear as a shadow went past while Morris simply waited quietly, as still as he could be, until whatever cast the shadow had gone and he was able to move safely once more.

Yes, Morris was a very careful mouse.

Now, Morris lived at the end of a garden and it was a big garden. The edges were bounded with hawthorn bushes, their spikes keeping out the nasty mouse-eating animals and the banks of flowers were only rarely trimmed, giving plenty of cover for a brave mouse like Morris. In spring, there were nice green plant shoots to eat, summer had lovely flowers to nibble on and in autumn, fruits and nuts fell from the trees, providing wonderful things to eat for a mouse like Morris.

And in winter? Well, when the weather turned cold and dark, the snow lying on the ground, Morris would curl up in his leafy bed in his burrow and sleep deeply, having lovely dreams, until it was spring and time to wake up once more.

Yes, for a brave but careful mouse, life was good.

* * *

Although Morris was a careful mouse, he could still be caught by surprise and so it was that one day he scampered round the trunk of the hawthorn and almost bumped into someone.

Morris Mouse had never seen anyone who looked like the new person did.

He was bigger than Morris, so big that even when he stood up on his hind legs, Morris couldn't see over him. His nose was pointed, but so was his fur! In fact, instead of fur on his body, he had lots and lots and _lots_ of spikes!

"Hello." Squeaked Morris. "I'm Morris Mouse. I've never seen anyone who looks like you before. Who are you?"

"It is nice to meet you, Mister Mouse." Rumbled the new person. "My name is Henry the Hedgehog. How do you do."

Morris was amazed at how big this new person was but what he didn't know was that Henry was also amazed at how small Morris was. He had never actually met a mouse before as they had always run away because he was so much bigger than them.

"Is there anything to eat around here?" Henry Hedgehog asked as his stomach rumbled. "I have walked a long way and I'd really love a nice, plump slug about now."

"You eat slugs?" Morris asked and Henry nodded.

"Oh yes, slugs, insects, snails, I really like those."

Morris smiled. Sometimes he woke up to find that the slugs were eating his favorite flowers and plants.

"I can show you where there are lots and lots and _lots_ of slugs!" He squeaked happily. "Follow me!"

Morris led Henry between the trunks of the hawthorn bushes, through the flower beds and to the shed in the corner of the garden. Behind the shed was a broken bucket that had been forgotten for years and years and many slugs had slithered and slimed their way into it.

"Ooooh!" Henry exclaimed as he saw the slugs. "Thank you! Oh, I am hungry!"

Morris watched as Henry started to eat, then he turned scurried off, heading to where he knew some seeds were, nice and tasty and just _waiting_ to be eaten.

Soon enough, Morris found the seeds and the first one was lovely and tasty! So was the second one and even the third! The fourth seed was just as tasty, but when Morris started to eat it, a shadow fell over him. When he turned, he knew that he was in trouble.

It was the nasty cat!

He tried to run away, but the cat was too fast and it caught him between its paws.

"Help!" Morris squeaked.

.

Henry backed out of the bucket, having eaten five of the lovely, slimy slugs, when he heard the squeak of "Help!"

"Oh my!" He whispered as he waddled as fast as he could round the shed. "That sounded like that nice mouse Morris! Oh, I do hope he isn't in trouble, he led me to such lovely slugs!"

Henry waddled to the corner of the shed and he saw the cat facing away from him, Morris trapped in its paws.

"Oh, that _nasty_ cat!" Henry exclaimed. "I need to save Morris but what do I do? That cat is so much bigger than me and even if I run, I won't reach him in time!"

Now Henry may have been big and slow to move, but he was not stupid. "Hmmm," He mused. "The garden slopes down and the cat is at the bottom of the slope. Maybe if I run, then roll up, I can get down faster! Yes, that is what I'll do!"

And so Henry Hedgehog started to run, his legs pumping away, then he jumped up into the air and curled up so that he could roll down the hill, rolling faster and faster _and faster_ …

The cat did not see him coming.

When you are a cat who has caught a mouse, there are some things that you do not like. Having a person take the mouse away is one, but on that day, the nasty cat found something worse.

Being hit from behind by a rolled up hedgehog!

# MEEEEEE-OOOOWWWWWWWWW!

With a wail of shock, the cat leapt up into the air and ran off as quickly as it could. Morris Mouse was amazed.

"You saved me!" He squeaked as Henry uncurled.

"Well, I couldn't let you get eaten." Henry replied. "After all, you showed me where the food was. You are a very nice mouse."

"Thank you." Morris said, then he looked round. "But we should get to the hedge again, or the nasty cat might come back and if it does, it will be angry."

"Oh, yes." Henry agreed as he followed Morris to the hedge. "You know, all of that rolling made me sleepy."

Morris thought about it. Henry's spikes had chased away the cat, perhaps his spikes would keep other things that ate mice away.

"I have a nice big burrow with comfy leaves." Morris said.

"Can I stay? Please?" Henry asked and Morris nodded.

"Of course you can. I'll show you where it is."

"Oh, thank you!" Henry said happily. He was having a very good day, he had eaten a lovely dinner and now had a new friend who was letting him stay. Life was good for Henry Hedgehog.

Morris smiled. He had a new friend who could chase away things that ate mice and ate the things that ate his food. Life was good for Morris Mouse.

And so the two new friends waddled and scampered back under the hawthorn bushes, ready to have a good nights rest so that they could see what the next day brought.


	2. Out Of the Rain

It had been a busy day for best friends Morris Mouse and Henry Hedgehog, as well as a wet one. The weather had been _wet_. It had rained almost from dawn, with only a few dry spells which the friends had made the most of in order to get food to eat and as the sky started to darken, the two of them returned to their burrow and curled up, only for a drop of water to land on Henry.

"What was that?" Henry Hedgehog said, looking up at the ceiling of their burrow. "Did I just get rained on?"

"We're in the burrow." Morris Mouse replied. "How could it rain in here?"

Just as he finished, a drop of water hit him on his nose.

"Oh!" He squeaked in shock. "It's raining inside!"

"This is bad." Henry said as another drop landed on him. "If we stay here, we'll get all wet and cold and we won't be able to sleep!"

The two friends scrambled out of the burrow and looked round.

"We need a new burrow." Morris Mouse decided and Henry nodded.

"I know!" He said. "The bucket where the slugs live! Food and shelter all in one!"

And so the two of them hopped over the roots and ducked under the branches of the hedge as they made their way to behind the shed, where the broken bucket was. When they reached it, Henry looked inside.

"Oh no!" He cried out. "The bucket has lots of water in it! If we try to make this into our burrow, we'll be swimming every time it rains!"

Morris pulled himself up to the lip of the bucket and sure enough, the bottom of the broken bucket was filled with water, water that was slimy and gooey because of all the slugs that lived there. It wasn't a good place at all and so Morris looked round for another place to go.

"I know!" Morris called. "Let's go under the shed!"

And so the two of them scampered to the giant shed, but when they got there, they found that the shed was standing on a slab of concrete and there was no room for them to hide underneath. The shed was new and strong and there were no holes for a mouse to sneak in, much less a hedgehog.

"Oh, this is annoying." Henry Hedgehog sighed as he looked round, then a pile of rocks caught his eye. "Morris, do you see what I see over there?"

"I see a big pile of rocks!" Morris agreed. "Maybe we can find a burrow there!"

And so Morris Mouse and Henry Hedgehog walked and waddled over to the rock pile and climbed on it.

"I've found a hole!" Morris squeaked as he darted into it. "A _dry_ hole!"

"Ooh, let me look!" Henry called as he climbed and clambered up to join Morris. "Where are you?"

"Here I am!" Morris called and Henry tried to join him in the hole.

But he couldn't fit!

The hole was too small!

Poor Henry could fit his nose in, he could squeeze his head in, but his shoulders were just too big for the hole that Morris had found.

"Oh dear." Morris said as Henry tried to squeeze through the small entrance. "This is a good _mouse_ home, but it's too small to be a _hedgehog_ home. Let's go and find a place that you can get into as well."

"This is so sad." Henry sighed as he clambered down off the rocks. "We need to find a dry place so that we can get plenty of sleep and _not_ be grumpy and grouchy when the sun comes up."

The two friends continued round the garden, then they came to something that they had never seen before.

Tucked underneath a spiky bush was what looked like a _small_ shed with a tunnel sticking out of the front. The tunnel was big enough for Henry to go through and above it were odd shapes drawn on it.

Now, as he was a mouse, Morris could not read since mice can't read. Henry also couldn't read, but if they could, they would have been able to make out the letters.

**H….E….D….G….E….H….O….G**

**B….O….X**

It was a Hedgehog box!

You see, gardeners _like_ having Hedgehogs in their garden since Hedgehogs eat the snails and slugs and nasty little bugs that try to eat the plants that the gardener wants to grow.

And so the one who lived in the House at the bottom of the Garden had placed a Hedgehog Box in the corner of the garden to give a hedgehog a place to sleep.

And Henry _was_ a Hedgehog!

"That looks like a burrow." Henry mused and Morris darted forwards.

"I'm small and fast, so I'll see if it is safe!" he called as he stopped by the mouth of the tunnel, sniffing at it to see if anything was inside.

"Be careful!" Henry said as Morris quietly crept into the tunnel and then through it.

"Henry! Henry!"

"What is it, Morris?" Henry called, feeling worried.

"This is _amazing_!" Morris called as he popped out of the tunnel. "It's a nice, dry burrow with plenty of dry grass in it to snuggle into!"

Henry followed Morris into the tunnel and from the tunnel into the box and it _was_ full of nice, dry grass that he could snuggle into!

"This is a very nice place." Henry said as he wriggled and snuggled into the straw, making a nice Henry-shaped hole for him to rest in. "Oh, this is a very comfy place, all nice and dry with all the horrid rain outside!"

"It _is_ a very nice place." Morris agreed as he squirmed and squiggled to make a Morris-shaped hole just next to Henry. "It's nice and warm and all the rain is outside."

Henry nodded, then he yawned. "Oooh, all that searching made me tired, I think I need to go to sleep."

And so the two friends curled up in their nice, new snug home as the rain outside bounced off the Hedgehog box, unable to get inside while Morris Mouse and Henry Hedgehog had very nice dreams in their lovely, snugly, warm and comfy straw beds.


End file.
